Gemma Cartwright, founder of Catwalk Queen, is one of Britain’s most popular fasion bloggers. I asked Gemma about Catwalk Queen’s editorial process, the influence of fashion blogs and what items, available online, she’s coveting.

Who is the Catwalk Queen reader?
She’s a young woman interested in fashion, shopping and celebrities who wants mainstream fashion news in an easily accessible way.

She shops on the high street but aspires to buy designer, and she probably loves a bit of quirky vintage too.

How do you decide day to day which stories to cover?
We have a calendar of big events; award shows, fashion weeks, big movie premieres, album releases and so on, and tailor content to fit that.

We also look at seasonal trends, so we’ll cover swimwear in the run-up to Summer, coats in Autumn etc. But a lot of it comes from what happens on a daily basis. What we see on the news wires, picture agencies and our RSS feeds each day.

I’d say about 60% of the content is unplanned, and is a reaction to what’s happening at the time.

What’s your take on email press releases sent to multiple editors using the BCC field?
Not a problem at all, so long as it’s well-targeted. I understand that no PR has the time to personalise every single email.

But you’d be amazed at the amount of useless press releases I get because people haven’t read the site before adding me to their mailing list.

Also, if they forget to blind copy, that’s another matter!

Do you think retailers understand the growing influence of fashion blogs?
Most of them. The shift is still happening, but it’s so much better now than it was a few years ago.

I remember one particular high street store once told one of my writers flat out “We don’t do online” when she called for information. A year later, they were schmoozing me with lunches, freebies and competition prizes, and to credit them, they were very open about the fact they didn’t ‘get it’ in the past.

The important thing to remember is that it’s not just the PR you need to persuade, it’s their client!

What is your top tip for brands that want to feature on Catwalk Queen?
Read the site and understand what it is we write about (for example, we don’t cover accessories or shoes outside of our outfit picks because we have other blogs devoted to them on our network). And then give us something interesting to write about!

And finally, which fashion items, available online, are you coveting this season?
Firstly I’d love an Esther Williams bikini. She used to star in films in the golden era of Hollywood, and her swimwear range is made to vintage patterns like the ones she wore. The photos on the site are awful but the bikinis themselves are perfect for that pin-up girl look!

Secondly, Kurt Geiger Fashionistas ‘Mayfair’ shoes, which have hat netting on the vamp. They’re gorgeous!